July 8, 2013

Eric Mohlman Resigns as Executive Director;

Travis Lowe Named Successor

Brenda Hartkopf & Laurie Seale Join Staff;

Office Moving to Minnesota

NAEBA announces new staff changes effective in August after Eric Mohlman and Kim Mohlman resigned as Executive Director and Office Manager, respectively.The NAEBA Board of Directors has named Travis Lowe as the new Executive Director, Brenda Hartkopf as Office Manager/Convention Coordinator and Laurie Seale as the Fundraising Coordinator/Convention Assistant.

The new team was assembled after the Mohlman's gave their notice that will become effective after the 2013 Convention in South Dakota on August 1-3rd.With the growing demands of their elk farm and small business, Mohlman said they wanted to take a step back.The Mohlman's have staffed the NAEBA office from their home near Ayr, Nebraska since 2008.

Travis Lowe takes over as the association's policy point person bringing several years of government relations and association management experience. Lowe has worked for several lobbying firms and served as Legislative Director for the recent Senate President of Kansas.He has a political science degree and is also the lobbyist for the Kansas Cervid Breeders Association.Lowe will still continue working as a lobbyist representing several clients in the state capital of Topeka. Lowe has served as an officer on the board for the last two years and will resign his seat at the upcoming convention.

Brenda Hartkopf will take over the daily office duties and also retain her position as Convention Coordinator.Hartkopf has worked part-time for NAEBA since 2008 running NAEBA's annual conventions and also serves as the Executive Secretary for the Minnesota Elk Breeders Association for the last fifteen years.The NAEBA office will be moved to her home in Howard Lake, Minnesota, this fall. Long time NAEBA members, Hartkopf and her husband Lance, have raised elk since 1993.

Laurie Seale will take on a new part-time position as Fundraising Coordinator and assistant for NAEBA events.Seale most recently served as Executive Director of the Cervid Livestock Foundation until last month.Seale owns a large whitetail farm in Wisconsin and served as president of the Whitetails of Wisconsin association for several years. She is also a councilmember for the American Cervid Alliance.

Eric Mohlman stated, "My wife and I have cherished all the great years working for NAEBA. We have had the pleasure of working with several fantastic Board of Directors and staff members.We know Travis, Brenda, and Laurie will do great things for NAEBA in the coming years.We will miss working with all the wonderful NAEBA members on a day to day basis but we will still be involved in smaller roles." Mohlman will still participate as a representative for NAEBA throughout CWD negotiations as the CWD Policy Analyst.Mohlman had also served on NAEBA's board for several years and was elected president in 2008.

The NAEBA Directors thank Eric and Kim Mohlman for all their years of dedicated service.